Dolphins at Midseason: Ranking the 10 Biggest Plays

While producing a 6-3 record in the first half of the 2022 season, the Miami Dolphins had their share of memorable plays, mostly on offense but also with some on defense and at least a couple of special teams.

With that in mind, let's rank the 10 biggest plays of the first half, based on quality of the play, game significance with bonus points for uniqueness.

Let's do this countdown style:

10. Tyreek Hill's 36-yard Catch at Detroit

This came in the first quarter with the Dolphins trailing 14-0 and was a big play in jump-starting the comeback, even if there was a lot of time left. It also was really impressive how, on third-and-13 from the Miami 41, Hill ran right past a double team after lining up in the slot and then adjusted to the underthrown pass to beat the two defenders for the catch.

9. Thomas Morstead's Free Kick vs. Buffalo

Veteran newcomer Thomas Morstead's first nine games with the Dolphins probably will be remembered for the "butt punt," but it's the kick that followed that was huge and an underrated key to Miami hanging on to beat the Bills. Morstead unleashed a 74-yard boomer that forced Buffalo to start its final drive at its 23 when the 40-yard line is often a more typical starting point after a team receives a post-safety kick. It was an amazingly clutch punt.

8. Tua's Long Pass to Jaylen Waddle vs. Buffalo

The Dolphins offense didn't do much in the second half of that victory against the Bills in Week 3, but it produce the game-winning touchdown after the team fell behind 21-17. And the play that set up that game-winning touchdown by Chase Edmonds was a 45-yard completion from Tua on third-and-22 from the Miami 48 when he just reared back and fired a perfect pass downfield to Waddle for the long gain.

7. Jevon Holland's INT vs. New England

Defense won the opener against the Patriots and the tone was set on the very first drive after New England appeared ready to take the lead. For some reason, the Patriots decided to test Xavien Howard on a first-and-10 from the Miami 22 by going to DeVante Parker in the right end zone. Howard was all over Parker, tipped the ball in the air and Holland came down with it to end the threat, the first of two Dolphins takeaways in the game and the first of two from this game to make this list.

6. Jaelan Phillips' Punt Block at Chicago

It's been a rough year overall for the special teams so far, but Phillips came up with a huge play with his block against the Bears, where he showed nice body control after getting to punter Trenton Gill so quickly that he would have been easy to overrun him and run into him instead of getting the ball. Phillips got there so quickly because he easily the block attempt by running back Khalil Herbert on the wing when Herbert tried to go low. The block became a huge play in a three-point victory.

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5. Noah Igbinoghene's INT vs. Pittsburgh

The Dolphins were fortunate to be able to outlast the Steelers in that Sunday night game, doing so thanks to two late interceptions. Igbinoghene's game-clincher gets bonus points here because, while the pick came as the result of a mix-up between QB Kenny Pickett and WR Diontae Johnson, Igbinoghene did a great job of getting both feet down before he fell out of bounds.

4. Tua's TD pass to Jaylen Waddle vs. New England

While it was the defense that led the way in the opener, the offense contributed one of the biggest momentum changers in the final seconds of the first half. Up 10-0 and facing a fourth-and-7 from the New England 42 with 24 seconds left, head coach Mike McDaniel showed he wasn't afraid to be bold — even though going for it always was more logical than punting or attempting a 60-yard field goal attempt. Tua made the "gamble" pay off by hitting Waddle in stride at the 30, and Waddle split three New England defenders before strolling into the end zone for the touchdown and a 17-0 halftime lead.

3. Melvin Ingram's TD vs. New England

There's been a lot of criticism about the Dolphins defense because of the Detroit and Chicago games, so it's easy to forget the difference-making plays that were made earlier in the season. After Holland's pick in the opener, Melvin Ingram scored the team's first touchdown of the season after safety Brandon Jones' sack-strip of Mac Jones.

2. Tua's Second TD Pass to Tyreek Hill at Baltimore

That Baltimore game in Week 2 clearly was the signature game for the Dolphins so far in 2022, and the most dramatic highlight clearly was Tyreek Hill being left wide open down the left sideline behind the Baltimore secondary. The 60-yard touchdown tied the score 35-35, paving the way for the Dolphins' 42-38 victory.

1. Tua's TD pass to Mike Gesicki at Baltimore

Somehow, we just felt the top play had to come from the top game, and we settled on this one for a couple of reasons. The first was the degree of difficulty involved because this might have been Tua's best throw of the season as he threw the ball high in the back of the end zone on third-and-13 where nobody but Gesicki could get it, and Gesicki did the rest by coming down with the ball. While this happened only in the third quarter and it's in the fourth that the Dolphins had their incredible comeback, they pretty much needed touchdowns to close the gap and the 14-yard score by Gesicki cut their deficit to 28-14 and put them in position for that incredible fourth-quarter comeback.

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